Loud click when powering off Volca Bass

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:37 pm

I always hear a loud click when I turn off the Volca Bass.

The same sound can be reproduced by tapping the power button when in the 'off' position, but not holding it down long enough to turn on. The sound will follow 1/2 second after pressing the button.

Is this normal?

DrHoo · Post by **DrHoo** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:38 pm

Just my opinion but yes, probably normal.
If you are afraid of damaging your speakers or amp, turn down the master volume before switching it off or mute its mixer channel, whichever you use.

There's an old rule for switching on & off d.j & production gear. Switching on - sound sources first (CD players, turntables, keyboards etc..) then mixer, then anything else in the chain & the amp comes last (Volume turned down)
Switching off is the reverse.

Your click sound is one of the reasons why. It's mainly aimed at sound systems though, p.a stuff but if you have a nice stereo amp at home & don't want to pop your speakers...Well, that's the answer.

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:14 am

Thanks. I of course always follow 'first on, last off.'

Can you confirm the same on your end? Mine will produce a click if I press the power, but don't hold it down long enough to turn on.

Thanks =)

DrHoo · Post by **DrHoo** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:05 am

I don't have a volca bass but i have a volca beats & that does it too. A lot of different gear i have ever had does the same thing, some equipment is lethal ,hence the precautionary measures. The volcas are mostly analogue & you have a vca to contend with & on a budget unit. It probably makes occasional clicky noises while in normal use i'd imagine.

Just wondering. Why do you hold down the power button but not long enough to turn it on ?

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:43 pm

Thanks. I had noticed the click every time I turned it off and then by accident, didn't hold down the power long enough to turn on and heard the click then as well.

Wasn't too concerned about it, as you mentioned it's typical—especially this being budget analog gear. But there were some other concerns regarding the Volca Bass unit I had. I have since exchanged it and am not having the other issues. The click seems to be normal.

Thanks again for your help!

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 4:46 pm

DrHoo wrote:
There's an old rule for switching on & off d.j & production gear. Switching on - sound sources first (CD players, turntables, keyboards etc..) then mixer, then anything else in the chain & the amp comes last (Volume turned down)
Switching off is the reverse.

This is good practice to always follow and eliminates any audio pops.

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 5:39 pm

roblabs wrote:
DrHoo wrote:
There's an old rule for switching on & off d.j & production gear. Switching on - sound sources first (CD players, turntables, keyboards etc..) then mixer, then anything else in the chain & the amp comes last (Volume turned down)
Switching off is the reverse.
This is good practice to always follow and eliminates any audio pops.

This particular 'pop' (more of a loud click) comes from the unit and is unavoidable (with volume down or not).

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 5:41 pm

I suppose it has to do with the sequence in which the Volca audio powers on and off...

jvd1291 · Post by **jvd1291** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:54 pm

I have a volca bass and it also does this, But then again so do most things that produce audio it seems, even program synthesizers on my computer do it lol.

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:10 am

jvd1291 wrote:I have a volca bass and it also does this, But then again so do most things that produce audio it seems, even program synthesizers on my computer do it lol.

Lol

Thanks for confirming.

Weird, I had headphones in and didn't bother to unhook the headphones before turning off (did take them off my head though lol), and the bugger still made the pop.

There seems to be an issue with the sequence of how the Volca Bass powers on and off. Oh well. Not a huge deal. But I do wonder if it's something that can be fixed in a firmware update...

Re-Member · Post by **Re-Member** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:08 pm

I just got all three Volcas a few days ago and each of them have that click sound.

hydrallus · Post by **hydrallus** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:06 am

That's called a 'party foul'

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:48 am

hydrallus wrote:That's called a 'party foul'

LOL. Are you saying the Volcas commit a party foul every time they are turned off? My incidents are specifically when I am not hooked up to any external outputs and volume down. There is no way around it...

And even when you are hooked to an external output, a pop/click still comes from the device...

DrHoo · Post by **DrHoo** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 7:32 am

joeyluck wrote:My incidents are specifically when I am not hooked up to any external outputs and volume down. There is no way around it...

And even when you are hooked to an external output, a pop/click still comes from the device...

So what you're saying then is that your volca bass makes a noise when turning it on or off but it isn't an audio pop or click, it is the sound of the volca being switched on/off. It has no effect on external equipment, speakers etc & can't be remedied ! It only happens when you don't switch it on properly & that you're not concerned about it & you exchanged it for another unit within 24 hours of first posting for advise here anyway & that there were other issues you had with the first one which you don't have with the replacement but those issues were not worth mentioning & the click thing stopped but it still does it !...

....Yup ! Making sense !

joeyluck · Post by **joeyluck** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 5:38 pm

DrHoo wrote:
joeyluck wrote:My incidents are specifically when I am not hooked up to any external outputs and volume down. There is no way around it...

And even when you are hooked to an external output, a pop/click still comes from the device...
So what you're saying then is that your volca bass makes a noise when turning it on or off but it isn't an audio pop or click, it is the sound of the volca being switched on/off. It has no effect on external equipment, speakers etc & can't be remedied ! It only happens when you don't switch it on properly & that you're not concerned about it & you exchanged it for another unit within 24 hours of first posting for advise here anyway & that there were other issues you had with the first one which you don't have with the replacement but those issues were not worth mentioning & the click thing stopped but it still does it !...

....Yup ! Making sense !

Sorry for any confusion.

It happens every time I turn it off. I was just pointing out that it can ALSO be recreated when not turning on all the way by not holding the power button long enough.

I decided not to worry about it after I had several other confirmations on this behavior. It comes from the location of the speaker, but also comes from that same location if external audio is hooked up. I've made mention of all of these things in the thread. Maybe it's not the speaker? I never assumed it was the speaker when I first posted, but I guess I was swayed that way by other posts (and the location of the click/pop).

I also never said the click stopped, but said that perhaps it is "normal" (as in 'normal behavior amongst the Volcas').

My guess at this point is that it has to do something with the sequence in which the Volcas power off. But maybe mine is behaving unlike anybody else's?